Playing along with a Challenge

 

Greetings friends. I felt like participating in a card challenge, so I thought I would share my design.

For my card today, I looked at the current challenges happening over on SplitcoastStampers. I saw there was a sketch challenge that just started (SC1054), so I used it for inspiration. I don't know if I'm allowed to post a picture of the sketch here, so I will link to the design instead. You can find it here.

Basically, the design is rectangle strip on the right as well as a square and circle element. For my interpretation of the sketch, I used one of the new Memory Box Peony dies. I thought the circle would provide a nice frame for my floral element.

To color my peony, I cut out the petals using light pink cardstock and then added Picked Raspberry Distress Ink using a sponge. I like that you can get a gradient of color by sponging hard on one side of the paper and then lightening your touch towards the other end of the petal:

 

I popped up some of the petals with foam tape so that there was extra dimension to my flower. To finish my card, I added some jewels and one of my favorite sentiments to use on cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know of any of your favorite challenge sites or groups. I would love to try more.

Sent With Love

 

Greetings friends. For today's card, I used a Crocosmia die. I didn't know anything about crocasmia flowers. I just knew that the die was really pretty and delicate. Of course I had to do a Google search. They are part of the iris family and come in a large variety of colors. I will have to experiment with different color combinations. For this card, I followed the colors used on the die envelope.

To make the card, I cut out my leaves using green cardstock and then added a bit of G00 and G24 Copic markers for some shading. For the petals and buds, I cut the pieces out of white cardstock and added hints of Y32 and Y38 Copic markers.

For the background, I used a yellow heart I thought would pair nicely with the flowers. The heart die has little dots around the edges for embelishment. I decided to place a yellow rhinestone on top of any of the dots not covered by the flowers:

For a bit more interest, I sponged some Vintage Photo Distress ink around the yellow heart and white cardstock layer. I then added my sentiment and placed everything onto a green notecard.

Thanks for visiting today!

Memory Box Items Used:

Crocosmia Stems 94879

Cherish Hearts 94882

Hello Butterfly clear stamp set CL5289

Hello Again

 

Greetings friends.  Long time no see! I feel bad for not blogging for a while. I guess sometimes everyone needs a bit of a break.  I thought I would post because Memory Box has a new "Peony" release of goodies. The ironic part is that my first card doesn't have any peonies on it, even though they are my favorite flower. I just couldn't pass up the chance to work with the new butterfly from the "Hello Butterfly" clear stamp set. 

I like this butterfly image a lot because it is a great size and has bold lines to it. I look forward to coloring with it using Copic markers or watercolor, but I wanted to see what it would look like paired with bright cardstock colors.

To make the card, I stamped the butterfly onto three colors of cardstock and cut them out with the coordinating die. Here is a close up of the card:

 

I wanted the butterflies to have a hint of color, so I added a bit of Copic marker to some of the butterfly sections. I chose markers that were slightly lighter than my cardstock colors. They appeared darker than the cardstock once I colored over the paper. 

I layered everything onto kraft cardstock and added a sentiment from the same stamp set as the butterfly.

As a side note, to attach the butterflies, I glued just the center of the butterflies to the kraft cardstock and placed some foam tape under the wings to make them pop up off of the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Memory Box Item Used:

Hello Butterfly Clear stamp set CL5289D

Winter Birthday Card

 

 

Greetings friends. I am sharing a card I am posting tomorrow on the Memory Box blog. I wanted to  make a birthday card for everyone out there that has a winter birthday. I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I happen to be a winter birthday girl myself.

I also wanted to share how wonderful backgrounds can be when they are created with rub-ons. I often use rub-ons on top of acetate, vellum, or other tricky surfaces. However, they also look great on top of cardstock. I love that you can get a strong opaque look with crisp details when using rub-ons. I struggle to get the same look with white ink and I often get stray powder marks when embossing. Here is a close up of the Snowflake rub-ons on top of deep turquoise cardstock:

Of course, I also needed something to fill in the bottom of the card. I cut out the A-Frame House using paper from plaid patterned paper that I thought worked well with the deep turquoise backdrop.

For accents, I used some dark green pine trees and a black happy birthday tab. To decorate the house, I used the wreath that comes in the A-Frame die set and added white rhinestones fit more with a winter theme than a Christmas theme. As a final step, I added some Faux Snow by Art Glitter at the base of the house.

Happy birthday to all of the other winter birthdays!

 

IO Last Hurrah- Quick and Easy Cards

Greetings friends. As the title says, this is the last IO designer blog hop. Impression Obsession will close tomorrow, Monday, December 2nd at midnight EST.  The theme today is quick and easy cards. Quick and easy is the name of the game this time of year! If you would like to see all the designer ideas, you can follow this hop list:

Impression Obsession Blog
Anna Wight
Dina Kowal
Giovana Smith
Jeanne Streiff
Laura Fulcher
Laura Williams
Robin Clendenning

 

I have a TON of cards to share with you to celebrate the last designer challenge. The items were all available when I made the cards, but inventory keeps changing. 

For my first card, I made a quick and easy card using the Wishes clear stamp set. I also used the coordinating Wishes die because I often like to layer that sentiment on top of things, and you can't do that as well with a stamp. However, the Wishes set comes with the word, so it is completely optional to have the die as well:

To make the card, I created a watercolor background with some Peerless watercolor paint and then added my sentiments with IO black ink. To add a bit more interest, I used the sun and glasses from the Summer Cupcake Topper die set. I also added a bit of clear gel pen to the glasses to make them look a bit more like sunglasses. Unfortunately, that set has sold out since I made the card yesterday. Sorry about that.

The second card is incredibly quick and easy. It uses perhaps the most versatile item left in stock, the Oval Labels dies. They layer really well together:

I paired it with a sentiment from the Let's Chat clear stamp set:

I layered everything onto the last paper pack available, which is called Art Supplies. I'm not sure why it is left. I would have thought stampers and crafters would have snapped it up:

Speaking of the Let's Chat stamp set pictured above, here is a previous sample I made with it that is also a quick and easy card.

For my next card, I once again used the Art Supplies paper as a background. This one was much more muted than the pencils:

I wanted to add "peace" to this card, but I don't have a stamp or die with that sentiment that is still available. Instead, I just paired the Bluebird die with the Mistletoe die. I also really wanted a Santa hat for my bird. Animals this time of year just seem to need Santa hats.

The popsicle card uses a die I talk about all the time, the Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die. The set comes with a butterfly, but honestly, I pretty much always use it for a scalloped frame oval on my cards:

To make the card, I made a watercolor background and then layered my popsicle onto my oval frame:

I added a sentiment from the Farm Fresh clear stamp set. I also used a sentiment from this set for my next card (the strawberries):

As I stated above, the punny sentiment for my strawberry card comes from the Farm Fresh clear stamp set. I also used strawberries from that same clear set. For the border, I chose different shades of red and cut them out using one of the borders from the Border Duo 1 die set:

I have two last quick and easy samples to show you. they are from previous posts.

For the oranges, I used the Sweet Citrus clear set:

I wasn't going to post this last sample, but I was once again surprised that it is still available. The Follow the Bunny set is just too cute! I also paired it with that Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die I mentioned earlier. I really don't use that butterfly much.

I just want to take a quick moment to thank Impression Obsession for allowing me to be a part of the team for so many years. In fact I am the only designer who was on the team from start to finish. I consider that to be an incredible honor.

As far as my blog goes, I will still be sharing cards with you. Card making is still something that I really enjoy and something that brings me peace. I will probably share more of my Memory Box projects even though they are also on the Outside the Box blog. I think I will also participate in more challenges and try out new techniques. There are so many possibilities.

I appreciate all of you!

Laura

Impression Obsession Items Used:

Wishes Card

DIE364 Wishes die

MC657 Wishes clear stamp set

DIE1227 Summer Cupcake Topper die set  (sold out)

Let's Chat

DIE1221 Oval Labels die

CS1303 Let's Chat sentiment

PP027 Art Supplies 6" x 6" paper

 

Bluebird

PP027 Art Supplies 6" x 6" paper

DIE880 Bluebird die

DIE1025 Mistletoe die 

 

Popsicle 

DIE1140 Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die

DIE1174 Popsicle die

CL655 Farm Fresh clear stamp set

 

Strawberries

 CL655 Farm Fresh clear stamp set

DIE017 Border Duo 1 die set 

 

Oranges

CL1300 Sweet Citrus

 

Bunny

MC1107 Follow the Bunny clear stamp set

DIE1140 Butterfly and Scalloped Frame die

Impression Obsession- New Cards

 

Greetings friends. I made a couple of new cards using products that are still available at IO. The first is a night/winter scene using the European Buildings die:

To make the card, I cut out the buildings using black cardstock and then put yellow paper behind the windows. I set that aside and then created my background. To do that, I sponged a white card with Scattered Straw, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks. I then lightly spritzed the paper with water to get a blotchy look to the sky and then splattered everything using watered-down white acrylic paint and a toothbrush.

For my second card, I used the Swallowtail Frame die:

When you cut out the butterfly using black cardstock, it cuts it out in one piece. The butterfly is attached to the frame. I had a scrap piece of paper that had a bunch of acrylic paint on it that I didn't how to use. I thought it would look great underneath the butterfly wings. Next, I cut out the butterfly frame again using white cardstock. That left me with a white butterfly frame to use for another card. However, it also gave me the white pieces I used to glue around the butterfly. The white pieces really made the black butterfly pop and they also covered up the background piece of acrylic paint I had placed under the butterfly. Does that make sense? 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Impression Obsession Items Used:

DIE585 European Buildings

DIE864 Swallowtail Frame die

Collection of IO Favorites

 

Greetings friends. Today I am going through old samples that are still available, but my posts for Saturday and Sunday will be new cards featuring IO products. Remember, the store closes for good on the 2nd. 

For my first card, I used the Fuzzy Monster 1 die. I can't believe he is still available. He is good for Halloween, but he can also be used for hello cards, or even surprise cards. I have plans to use him with a birthday hat. He is simply a die cut placed over a watercolor background.

The next two cards use bunny images from the same clear set, even though they are vastly different from each other. The set is called Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere and looks like this:

I love the diversity of the bunnies in the set.

The next cards use the Sweet as Honey clear stamp set:

Finally, these images from the Monster Set crack me up. They are great for Halloween, but I really like sending them to my ghoul friends year-round:

This set gets bonus points for working well with googly eyes.

There is only one of the Monster Set coordinating die set left. Of course, you don't need to have the coordinating dies!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Impression Obsession Items Used:

DIE1348 Fuzzy Monster 1

CL1336 Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere clear set 

CS1321 Sweet as Honey clear set

CS1087 Monster Set clear set

DIE1121 Monster Set die set (1 left)

Candle Duo Set

 

Greetings friends. I was feeling all kinds of feels yesterday writing my post about the last designer blog hop with IO. Joke is on me though because there will be one last hop on Dec 1st before the store closes for good.

As I was going through old samples and products, I kept finding things that I wanted to share. Please humor me this last week as I go through some of my old samples, make new ones and basically walk down memory lane.

I saw that the candle block duo is still available. 

 

Most of you have used stamps with coordinating dies. However, the block duos work a little bit differently, and I wanted to review it so that you can remember how they work. Basically, they allow you to cut out a ton of images at the same time.

When you stamp the candles, you will get the candles as well as a stamped box around the images:

I stamped this set of candles in red ink for the candles and yellow for the flames. Next, place the die on top of the box:

Please forgive the photo. I used one I had on file that was of a different die than the candles. The idea is the same though. The die is the exact same size as stamped box. It is so easy to line up the die and the stamped box. You don't have to center anything.

Run your stamped images through the die cut machine. You might as well cut out a whole bunch of candles while you are at it for quick and easy birthday cards:

Here is a close up of the card:

You may have some of the other block duos that IO sold such as the peppermints, candy corn or keys. I hope the tutorial will help those who need help remembering how to use them. I believe that the candles are the only set left.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Impression Obsession Items Used:

DIE316 Small Candle Block